Sulfosuccinate surfactants have been used in the cosmetic industry primarily to improve the mildness of skin cleansers, shampoos and other personal care products. Such surfactants are usually diesters or monoesters, with the monoester being preferred because of its mildness and foam enhancement properties. Prior to the development of dimethicone copolyol sulfosuccinates, which are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,498 to Maxon, which is incorporated herein by reference, primarily two half ester or monoester derivatives had been used for shampoos. Such derivatives included derivatives of monoalcohol amides, such as oleamide MEA, oleamide IPA and undecylenamide MEA, and derivatives of fatty alcohols and ethoxylated alcohols, such as lauryl, laureth and oleyl alcohols.
The sulfosuccinates obtained from diesters and monoesters vary considerably in their foaming, viscosity building, solubility and conditioning properties. In general, they are gentle to the skin and eyes when compared to high foaming surfactants, and are usually blended with such high foaming surfactants to obtain compositions that exhibit some degree of both mildness and foaming properties. Dimethicone copolyol sulfosuccinates, on the other hand, have useful foaming characteristics, while also being quite mild to the skin. One factor which has limited the use of dimethicone copolyol sulfosuccinates in cosmetics is that such surfactants typically exhibit a characteristic odor, which can be objectionable in some personal care and cosmetic products.
There is an ongoing need, therefore, for dimethicone copolyol sulfosuccinate surfactants that have relatively low-odor characteristics suitable for use in cosmetic applications. The present invention fulfills this need.